Zapatista - After Five! New Menu and Cocktails

Have you ever tried to run from Zapatista Burrito Bar on Grainger Street to Haymarket Bus Station with a belly full of Mexican food? If you haven't I definitely wouldn't recommend it!

You may be wondering how I ended up having a late night jog through Newcastle? I'll explain all later!  In the meantime, I have some exciting news for you. Zapatista on Grainger Street are now serving a brand new menu after 5:00 pm on week nights and all day at the weekends. If that wasn't enough there's also a fantastic new cocktail menu featuring 22 delicious creations (all costing £5.50), and a tequila tasting menu as well as wine, Prosecco and Mexican Sangria.

Zapatista have been keeping the folks of Newcastle well fed with their Burritos, Fajitas and Tacos for years but their new evening menu has taken things up a notch and believe me you're going to want to go and check it out!

My evening started with some Nachos served with cheese, guacamole and beans. I'm not the biggest fan of corn chips but I will admit with all those delicious dips it went down a treat. I was shovelling a pretty greedy amount into my mouth when I thought no one was looking.

This was all washed down with my first cocktail of the night, the Classic Margarita (El Jimador Tequila, Triple Sec, Lime Juice and Agave Syrup). The cocktails at Zapatista are served ice cold which is much appreciated when you're a spice wuss like me.

I say I'm not great with spice yet this was the night that I was finally brave enough to try a Jalapeño (I'm guessing the Margarita made me feel bold!) The Jalapeño Poppers (£5.20) - nacho crumbled jalapeño and cream cheese poppers served with fresh shredded salad and salsa verde - were out of this world! So incredible in fact that I kept finding myself going back to the little dish again and again.

The Mardis Gras Blue (El Jimador Tequila, Triple Sec, Lime Juice, Agave Syrup and Blue Curacao) was the perfect cocktail to soothe my mouth after that kick of spice - who doesn't love a bright blue cocktail?!

The feasting continued with a portion of Calamari (£6.10), served simply with a squeeze of fresh lime and aioli, the batter was so light - yum!

A huge hit of the evening were the Taquitos, two tortillas rolled and fried into crispy cigars and served with shredded salad and salsas.  We tried the Squash and Chickpea (£5.10) and the Chilli con Carne (£5.30). Both were beautiful and each time I think I've picked a favourite I change my mind again so you'll just have to try both and let me know.

You may be thinking that this sounds like quite a lot of food (and you'd be right) but the food on the evening menu is so good that I'd really recommend you grab a few friends and encourage everyone to order different dishes so that you can shove them all into the middle of the table and share.  Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in, these Zapatista dishes work so well grabbed with both hands and shared with people that you love.

Next into my belly were the Baja Fish Tacos (£5.80) - light battered cod with salsa verde, chipotle honey & lime mayo served with shredded salad. It certainly beat the fish finger sandwiches that I make at home and I'm seriously considering giving this dish a try at home (something tells me I'll fail and I'll end up back at Zapatista for the real deal!)

At this point we decided to take a breather and take a look at the cocktail menu. I love anything rose flavour so the Rose Margarita (El Jimador Tequila, Rose Tequila, Strawberry Cream Liqueur, Grenadine and Cranberry Juice) immediately caught my eye. If you love your cocktails super sweet you will love this!

My highlight of the evening had to be the Meat Balls Tacos (£5.50). The meat balls were hand rolled and cooked in a rich chipotle sauce and served with the most addictive house slaw you've ever tasted. I made a huge mess mixing my slaw in with my meatballs and wedging huge scoops into my tacos but believe me this is the way to go - it was heaven! I could happily have sat there and enjoyed plates and plates of it.

 Being a huge fan of the Zapatista Churros I was excited to see what would appear on the new dessert menu and there are a few new dishes to enjoy.

First up Pineapple and Caramel £4.70)- slices of fresh pineapple glazed in spiced caramel sauce and served with Madagascan vanilla ice-cream. The other new addition is Key Lime Pie (£4.90) an American classic served with Madagascan vanilla ice cream. Both were really tasty but I will forever be a fan of the Churros and I'm very happy to see that they also feature on the After Five menu.

By this point I almost couldn't breathe my belly was so full! So how did I end up attempting to run through Newcastle post Mexican feasting? Because I was having such an amazing time I almost missed my bus! Be warned folks, nights at Zapatista are so good you wont want to leave and running after a feast is hard work!

I was invited to try out the new menu and provided with complimentary food and drinks but all thoughts are my own. I am a huge fan!